I don't want your pity if you see me in a headscarf, says Amy Dowden on cancer treatment

‘Sometimes people don’t know how to address it. Just ask how I am – I will answer you’ – Mark Cant/Women’s Health UK

People with cancer do not want “pity” looks and sympathy, Amy Dowden has said, as she thanked the Strictly Come Dancing team for keeping her spirits up.

Dowden, 33, one of the BBC show’s professional dancers, announced in June that she had undergone a mastectomy after discovering that she had stage three breast cancer.

Dowden told Women’s Health UK: ‘I just want to be treated as normal.’ – Mark Cant / Women’s Health UK

Asked how she wanted people to approach her, Dowden told Women’s Health UK: “I just want to be treated as normal. When I’m walking outside and I’ve got my headscarf on, I don’t want looks of sympathy or feeling sorry for me. I’m Amy.

“Sometimes people don’t know how to address it. Just ask how I am – I will answer you.

“We don’t want you to feel sorry for us. We’re embracing it. Stand strong with us. Don’t give me that pity look – I don’t need it.”

Dowden has been reunited with her Strictly “family” on Saturday nights, where she joins her fellow professionals to watch the performances. She said: “Watching Strictly has been a great help. I’m my fellow professionals’ biggest cheerleader.

Dowden has been reunited with her Strictly ‘family’ on Saturday nights, where she joins her fellow professionals to watch the performances – Mark Cant / Women’s Health UK

“We’re the best of friends. Honestly, not a day goes by without Dianne [Buswell] checking in on me; Carlos [Gu]; Katya [Jones]. Production have gone above and beyond to make me part of the series as well.

“To have no part in it would have been soul-destroying and not good for me mentally whatsoever. I don’t know what I would have done, I’ll be honest with you.”

Dowden posed for the magazine without her wig and said she hoped her decision would inspire others.

“I just had a little moment: I imagined teenagers being able to go to school and being able to embrace [not having hair] or go swimming and just be like, ‘I’m like Amy who’s off Strictly.’ And that just gave me the confidence to go, ‘Yeah, let’s do this.’”

The full Amy Dowden interview can be read in the December issue of Women’s Health UK, on sale now.

%n

Discover Telegraph Wine Cellar’s new wine club. Enjoy expertly chosen bottles at exclusive member prices. Plus, free delivery on every order.